Government approves of 10% Quota for the economically backward General Category

The fight for reservation has been a long
battle and the essence of giving reservation to the general category has been a
question for many things. Before the arrival of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,
the Modi government made amendment in the Constitution on Monday and ensured a
10% reservation for the economically backward General category people for
recruitment in various governmental institution for jobs and higher education.
The last day of the winter session for the Parliament will be held on Tuesday and
the government will make this a part of the legislature soon.

Earlier leaders like Ramdas Athawale and
Mayawati had demanded for a same rules. But they were unsuccessful in doing so
and this is the first time that the Modi government in power is proceeding with
such a step. When the Narsimha Rao government initiated the step to offer 10%
reservation for the economically backward section, the government suffered
severe backlash. In the early 90s this method against the implementation of
Mandal Commission was dropped by the Supreme Court.

General Category Quota : Amendments in the legislation

One of the closely related sources revealed,
“Narasimha Rao government’s attempt was thrown out as it violated the basic
structure of 50 per cent ceiling, this time this basic structure is changed to
provide for reservation up to 60 per cent.” The sources further added,
“Additionally, a new criterion of economically weaker section as eligible for
reservation will be provided for through the Constitution Amendment.”

This only brings in front how the government
has been taking measures to bring forward the equality and keep the legislation
free from all prejudices. Amendment in article 16 will be made and Constitution
will be offering seats for the economically weaker section society too.

As per the SC/ST/OBC regulation, caste was the
main criterion for registration. However, in this case, the caste won’t play
any role. Specific conditions will be mentioned under the regulation to
determine the economically weaker section of society.

As per the sources, the families below an
annual income of Rs 8 lakh per year, having agricultural land below 5 acre and
residential area of less than 1000 Square feet will be considered to be
economically weaker. However, for urban areas, the residential house should
have an area less than 100 yards in municipality areas, and the area should be
less than 200 yards in non-notified municipality areas.

General Category Quota : Misuse of SC/ST act

Many people over the time have been misusing
the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act and the government wants to prevent it.
As a result, they introduced this criterion too.

Several protests have happened over the time
by the upper caste and the lower caste as well regarding the caste reservation
system. Everyone comes demanding their own quota.

Talking of the issue, BJP leaders said that
they had been facing hostile upper caste people in various places such as
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Although the move is a quite applauding one,
it seems to be one of the strategies for BJP government to ease the problems of
upper caste. This strategy may help them in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.